Townsend: Going small paid big dividend for Mavs in 2nd quarter

1/31

Tom Fox/Staff Photographer

Dallas Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki (41) dribbles past Portland Trail Blazers guard Wesley Matthews (2) in the first half of Game 1 of the NBA playoffs on April 16, 2011, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

As many expected, Portland’s bigger guards started exacting a toll on their Mavericks smaller, second-team counterparts near the end of the first quarter in Game 1.

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle inserted 6-2 Jason Terry for 6-5 DeShawn Stevenson with 4:53 left in the period. Just 1:08 later, Terry was out of the game with two fouls after Portland’s Andre Miller took Terry to the post twice in the same possession.

Those fouls occurred nine seconds apart. That was the extent of the first-quarter contribution from Terry, the Mavericks’ second-best offensive threat behind Dirk Nowitzki.

If you’re wondering why the Mavericks had to rally to pull out a sometimes-ugly 89-81 victory in Game 1, the answer is that Portland wants the games to be ugly. And taking out Terry, who scored just 10 points Saturday, is part of that strategy.

“When we come in, that second unit, they’re going to post us up,” Terry said. “There’s no secret about that. That is their advantage. They have guards that are bigger than us, and we just have to do a better job of playing them without fouling.”

So what did Carlisle do at the start of the second quarter? He went with an even smaller backcourt of Terry and J.J. Barea and a far from physically intimidating front line of Brendan Haywood, Dirk Nowitzki and Peja Stojakovic.

What appeared to be a gamble that Terry wouldn’t pick up another quick foul became perhaps the most shrewd coaching decision of the night.

With the smaller lineup, Dallas started the quarter with a 12-3 run. Frankly, it was the Mavericks’ most dominant stretch of the night until Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd rallied Dallas during the game’s final five minutes.

“I’m a bench guy,” Terry said. “I argued with Rick earlier in the season after getting two [fouls] to just leave me out there. I haven’t fouled out of a game yet since I’ve been a Maverick.”

Terry was correct when he said he and Barea will have to be less foul-prone the rest of the series. This was precisely the pace and kind of game Portland wanted. It was the style of game the Mavericks cannot afford to play the rest of the series.

Fortunately for them, Carlisle was up to the task of countering the moves of Portland’s Nate McMillan.

To post a comment, log into your chosen social network and then add your comment below. Your comments are subject to our Terms of Service and the privacy policy and terms of service of your social network. If you do not want to comment with a social network, please consider writing a letter to the editor.